Ties of the Independent
by dangerouslies
Summary: Jessabel has always been alone and hates humanity for making her that way. She lives two lives but refuses to make friends. So what happens when Jasdebi refuse to leave her alone? Jasdevixoc Jasdebixoc. Slightly AU.
1. Marred Jessabel

The last of the singer's voice rang out from the massive speakers that dominated either side of the stage. The lights flashed overhead in time with drums as it beat out the last of the song's rhythm. One last strum of the electric guitar and the lights faded out, plunging the stage into darkness. The nightclub erupted into applause, whistles ripping through the midnight air and the occasional call for an encore was shouted out.

Meanwhile the band temporarily abandoned their beloved instruments and climbed down from the stage with ease that could only come from practice. They slipped away from the noise, reconvening backstage where bottle water waited for them – courtesy of the club's manager – so they had something to drink while they waited for the roadies to collect their instruments.

All of the band were female and it was commonly believed among the four of them that at least half of their regular audience could care less what they played or how well they played it; they were simply there for the eye-candy. It was a fair assumption. Even from the distance between the band and their audience, the girls' beauty was still obvious. Although they'd only been playing for a year and they were only a local band, without a contract and without an agent, they'd had their fair share of stalkers and groupies. It was a good thing none of them used their real names.

The drummer slumped on the chair, feeling her heart beat with the leftover adrenaline from playing. Her name was Mina but she was called Ebony when among those of a musical profession. The name came from her black hair that stuck up in short tuffs; it gave her a boyish appearance so her fellow band members had opted for a more feminine name to avoid any confusion. Out of the girls, she was the shortest, only coming up to their bass guitarist's shoulder. Her dark, muddy green eyes peered out from vaguely almond-shaped eyes, framed by long dark eyelashes. She was not well curved but her long sleeved black top removed any doubt about her gender. However, the effect partly was ruined by the white dress-shirt – adorned by a red Chinese dragon emblazoned on the back – which she'd worn over it, leaving the buttons undone. To complete the outfit, she'd worn a pair of black cargo-pants and a pair of white flip-flops. Ebony's style was usually mismatched and rarely feminine.

"Were they there?" Ebony asked, then seeing the vaguely confused looks of her comrades, she continued. "The psychos."

A look of understanding passed over the faces of her friends. The 'psychos' was the nickname given to a particular pair of fans noted for their strange appearances. Although they were never close enough to see properly, their fashion sense resembled something close to 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'. Not that this bothered the band, the nickname 'psychos' was considered affectionate by the group of girls whose childhoods had taught them to value 'weird' and 'disturbed' as compliments.

"Yup," the lead guitarist confirmed. "In the corner, furthest from the door."

"Have they talked to anyone?" the bass guitarist asked, only to receive a negative in the form of shaking heads.

The guitarists were sisters, only a year apart in age and an inch apart in height. They held a striking resemblance to one another, so people were forced guess which one they were talking to by their haircut and fashion sense. They bore the same oval faces, containing the same feminine features and the same deep chocolate eyes staring soulfully out at the world. They were tall with well-rounded figures, slightly top heavy but that was nothing they would complain about. Between the two of them, they wrote just over half of the band's songs.

The elder, christened Rebecca but referred to as Athame, had light brown hair that fell in natural curls just past her shoulders, differing from her sister's pin-straight hair of the same length and colour. She wore a bright purple top that fell off her shoulders to contrast her layered crimson miniskirt. Scarlet high heels lifted her up even higher although she was already the tallest of the band and finishing the ensemble were a pair of fishnet tights and heavy black eyeliner. Her bass guitar was purely black, gleaming from good treatment and a perfect match to her younger sister's.

Going by the alias Bane, Natalie appeared to have much more simple and subtle tastes than her elder sibling. She wore skinny black jeans and a white top, decorated with a pattern that resembled splattered blood. Her footwear was the ever-classic black converses and she wore the same amount of black eyeliner as Athame. However, up close you could see three necklaces of varying lengths, two studded belts and a ring on each finger which were partially hidden by her fingerless gloves.

"I don't think they've even come within shouting distance," the band's singer commented quietly.

Despite being the singer, Jessabel was the quietest of the group. Usually preferring not to socialise with the others outside of practice, the singer stood a little distance from the others and normally stayed perfectly silent. It had been her who suggested stage names in the first place, choosing Marred for herself in an attempt to keep her band career separate from the rest of her life. She wore entirely tight black clothing, no accessories but heavy black eyeliner and eye-shadow to make people focus on her hair rather than her face. This part of her was hard to ignore, in bright sunlight or under the glow of stage lights, the red strands seemed to catch on fire; when wet, they held a frightening resemblance to blood. It rolled down her neck and then her back in unruly layers eventually ending at the base of her spine.

The door opened, jogging each of the girls from their own thoughts, revealing the roadies who brought their instrument carefully to them. They accepted them gratefully, though not quite as gratefully as the money for the gig from the club manager.

"Everyone good for practice on Monday?" Ebony asked. "Four pm?"

"Sounds good," Athame agreed, her sister Bane nodding also.

They turn to their final member who remained silent as she accepted her share of the money. Though they didn't speak of it, Marred was only fifteen and therefore it was actually illegal for her to be doing gigs so late or so often. School started on Monday but she too nodded, remaining silent as usual because she saw no complications – such as large amounts of homework – coming with the first day. That decided, the group split up and each went their own way, taking care not to get spotted by any of their fans and followed home.

Marred was particularly careful, taking the long route to avoid anyone she knew. She walked home by herself; knowing the streets and having her house close by soothed any fears she might have about being alone at night. She walked to the edge of town where built up housing estates gave way to individual homes and, finally, the little thatched cottages that were part of the original nineteenth century town.

The singer approached one of these cottages. Ivy covered the front of the building, twining over the stones and mingling with the thatch of the roof. None of the lights were on but Marred advanced on it anyway, passing through the front garden which had become nothing more than a tangle of weeds and thorns before reaching the front door. Out of her pocket, Marred fished out an ancient bronze key and fit it into the house's lock. It turned and the door swung open, bringing the inside of the cottage to light.

Though the outside appearance of the cottage gave an air of abandonment, the inside was free of dust, cobwebs and anything else that might indicate a lack of inhabitancy. Instead, the surfaces were clean, the rooms were freshly decorated, paintings hung on the walls and a pot of flowers was set in each of the downstairs rooms.

Marred discarded the keys on a small table by the front door, closing the wooden barrier behind her as she ventured in. She trudged upstairs to the attic, her fatigue evident in all that she did; everything from her posture to the look on her face. The attic had been converted into a long hallway with two rooms on each side and one at the very end. It was this room that Marred entered without even a glance at any of the close doors she passed.

The room was not painted or decorated, the stone walls were bare and the wooden floor was its natural colour. A bed was situated in the middle of the room covered in black silk sheets with scarlet trimming. A window near the floor let in moonlight and a wardrobe stood ever vigilant against the wall at the far end from the door. A desk waited in one corner covered in paper and make-up. Marred stood before it, taking out her contacts before and collapsing on the bed. She didn't even bother to undress or crawl under the covers; she would deal with the consequences in the morning when she had the energy.

* * *

Sun leaked into the room from the tiny window and Marred tossed in her bed, trying to avoid it. When the sun seemed to pursue her, she gave up and hauled herself into a sitting position with a groan. Her back ached from sleeping in an awkward position and her black attire was crinkled to the extreme. She silently thanked herself for having the foresight not to fall asleep with her contacts in again. That tended to be painful. Marred had very poor eyesight, she was so short sighted that all of she could see of her feet was a black blur.

A sardonic smile crossed her face and a weary laugh passed from her lips.

"I left my shoes on," she muttered to herself, getting off the bed. "No more Sunday gigs… god, it's like a hangover."

Marred staggered out of the room and into the bathroom down the hall. She peeled off her clothes before getting into the shower and turning on the water. It was ice cold at first, crashing down on her back and causing her to gasp even though she knew it was coming. After washing quickly, she braced herself to face the mirror, opening her eyes to see a panda. Her black makeup from the night before had run down her pale cheeks and her eyes appeared to be a dull gray when surrounded by the marks. Sighing, Marred brushed her wet hair into a tight plait as the beginning of her transformation.

Half an hour later, Marred became Jessabel and she left the cottage carrying a bag. Her outfit was not black but a light cream jumper, blue jeans and a pair of white trainers. Jessabel, as rule, wore no makeup and so looked almost completely different from her singing alter-ego. Her eyes were blue, a bright colour when not dampened by the effects of black makeup, and her eyelashes were blonde making them almost invisible behind her large, round glasses.

The beginning of the school year was unimportant to Jessabel. She arrived, found her homeroom and copied down her schedule. She didn't bother looking for anyone or trying to find out who she shared classes with; to Jessabel, school was a necessary evil that she bore with on her own. Living virtually on her own had made Jessabel scathingly independent and solitary. Most of her classmates had never heard her speak and even some of her teachers were under the impression she was mute.

She sat on her own in the corner and got her work done, she was never late, never disrespectful and always handed her homework in on time, therefore the teachers were happy with her. She wasn't smart enough for anyone to pressure her into doing their homework, she wasn't ugly or weird enough to bully in any other way, she didn't steal anyone's boyfriend and the popular crowd showed no interest in her so therefore… the students just ignored her. That was the way Jessabel liked it, she got enough attention as Marred and so long as she got to sing, she could put up with that.

Jessabel sat in the corner, eyes focused on a blank piece of paper as a new melody came to life in her mind. She scribbled down some notes and the beat in shorthand before noticing that the room had become suspiciously quiet. Jessabel looked up briefly to see that a teacher had walked in. She dismissed his appearance and continued to write until unfamiliar voices sounded.

"I'm Debitto," one voice introduced himself.

"And I'm Jasdero," the other chimed, ending it with a short burst of laughter.

"And we're known as Jasdevi," they said in perfect unison.

Jessabel's interest peaked at the last comment. Most people didn't join schools together, let alone have a collective name for themselves. Lazily, she raised her head to view the new pair only to have her mouth open slightly from the shock.

"The psychos," she whispered.


	2. The Dangers of Interesting Jasdebi

**A/N; I listened to the beginning of Just by Mark Ronson ft. Alex Greenwald half way through writing this and was struck by how much that song fits this. Lol. Anyway, review if you can.**

Bane and Athame plucked at their instruments, each picking out a random tune that clashed and met in perfect disharmony with the other. Ebony sat by her drums, half-heartedly trying out a new drum solo as the tension in the air grew.

They were waiting for Marred. She was late for practise which had never happened before. On several occasions, Marred had been ill or unable to attend but she had always phoned each of her fellow band-members to apologise. This time there had been no explanation for her absence and, truth be told, the girls were beginning to worry. Although they didn't know Marred very well or socialise with her much, they still held a good amount of affection for her and would even go so far as to call her their friend.

The door opened with a creak, causing each of the band members of watch it open with hope clearly visible on their faces. When Marred walked in, apparently unharmed, the hope was replaced with relief. A quick inspection of their singer revealed that she was as they expected her; she wore blue jeans and a black top with the words 'I'm up and dressed. What more do you want?' scrawled on the front in white. Her makeup was significantly lighter than it had been the night before but the band deemed this as normal for Marred and practises.

"Hi," she mumbled, taking her place at the mike. "Sorry I'm late."

With that, practise began and no one asked why Marred had been late. In the year that she had been part of the band, Marred refused all invitations to hang out the other members. They didn't know where she went to school, they didn't know whether she played any sports, supported any teams or had any other social engagements other than singing in the band. They knew she baby-sat for her next-door neighbour sometimes and Ebony had even been around her house once, though she couldn't remember exactly where she lived. Ebony, if she thought about it hard enough, had a vague idea of what Marred's home life was like, but that was only because her elder sister was friends with one of Marred's sisters.

After a month of trying to get closer to Marred, eventually they had given up and learned to respect her intense need for privacy. This extended to not asking why Marred had been late, even though if she had been anyone else, she would have been bombarded with questions. Marred sang as she always did, bringing out the emotions behind the words like no one else could, so the band deduced it couldn't be anything serious. Despite everything, they still harboured the hope that she could confide in them if anything went truly wrong.

"I met the psychos," Marred announced.

A silence fell over the room. The quartet were in the middle of their break and previously they had been deep into a discussion about the new song Bane and Athame had come up with. Rather, Bane, Athame and Ebony had been in deep discussion and Marred had been sitting on her own as usual until she'd spoken, startling the others into silence. They weren't quite sure if they'd heard right or, if they had, whether they were more surprised about the subject matter or that Marred had started a conversation of her own accord.

"When?" Ebony asked, being the first to recover from the shock.

"They turned up at school, this morning," Marred answered. "They're in my class."

Suddenly the three girls erupted into a mass onslaught of questions, bombarding her without mercy. All Marred could hear was a gabble of voices and her normally impassive face showed vague signs of fear. Seeing that they were actually scaring their youngest member, the band calmed down and settled on single question:

"What are they like?"

"The psychos," Marred answered slowly, remembering the events of the day. "Is an apt name."

* * *

_They were wearing similar outfits to each other, reinforcing the idea that they were related. Their introduction caused sniggers to leave the more popular members of the class while the goths looked them up and down appraisingly. Only the pure shock of seeing the psychos kept Jessabel in place, so much so that her mouth couldn't even drop open all the way._

_The two boys were very different, baring virtually no physical resemblance to one another. They had the same colour eyes – an odd green that could almost have been gold – the same pale, gray tinged skin, the same build and they were same height but there the similarities ended. One had long blonde hair with a circlet of red string around his head; the other had short black hair that stood up in a similar way to Ebony's. The blonde one giggled insanely, leading Jessabel to believe that he was Jasdero and the other was Debitto._

"_Alright, boys," the teacher said. "There are two seats over there, why don't you sit down."_

_The spell was broken, allowing Jessabel to cringe at the sentence. Said seats were right in front and right beside Jessabel. Her heart quickened and the two approached her. Would they recognise her as Marred? Jessabel hoped not, there were more than a few of the band's fans in the school and she already had to deal with them as Marred. No doubt these two were fairly obsessive fans themselves, they had attended every single one of their gigs to date._

_Much to Jessabel's horror they stopped in front of her, Debitto glaring at her while Jasdero stood behind him, giggling all the while. Jessabel stared back coolly, refusing to show that she was intimidated, silently wondering why he was glaring at her._

"_Move," he demanded suddenly._

_The girl blinked, unsure if she had heard right, then raised an eyebrow. Jessabel summarised from the lack of respect that Debitto, at the very least, didn't recognise her. She gave a quiet sigh before gathering her stuff and sitting back down in the chair next to it. This apparently didn't please Debitto. He continued to glare at Jessabel but when he pointed at the other empty chair in row in front, Jessabel shook her head defiantly. It was obvious that he just wanted to sit next to his brother but there was no way she was letting either of them sit behind her. Even if they didn't know she was Marred, there were far too many things one could do in that position. Jessabel had learnt early on; never turn your back on your enemies._

"_Just sit down, boys," the teacher sighed. "You can argue with Jessabel about seats outside of class, right now we have a lesson to begin."_

_And that was how it started, with that one little defiance Jessabel had sealed her fate. She had captured the attention of Jasdebi._

_Later, much to Jessabel's annoyance, she discovered that the twins shared all of their classes with each other… and so did she. Also, because the only seats free in any of the classes were either side of Jessabel, she found herself inescapably surrounded by the two of them in some way or another. Also because of this, Jessabel had much time to study them and their increasingly odd habits._

_Much to Jessabel complete an utter disbelief, Jasdero had his mouth stitched shut. When Athame claimed to have noticed this feature, it had been dismissed under the pretences of marks being painted onto his face to give them impression of being sewn shut. However, being seated next to Jasdero gave Jessabel the chance to see – with something very close to awe – that Jasdero had indeed, **stitched** his mouth shut._

_Jasdero was almost constantly laughing as well, at first Jessabel excused it as him simply being nervous but as they day continued she begun to realise, it was a habit more than anything. He never answered a question right, although he did appear to be paying attention, which caused most of the class to laugh at his bizarre and childish answers._

_Debitto could be considered just as bad, or probably more realistically, worse. He disrupted classes, joining in with his brother's stupid replies and made a general nuisance of himself. Needless to say, he gained a good reputation among most of the student-body by lunchtime. This was partially to do with his good looks, although his twin had ruined any possibility of being handsome by sewing his mouth shut, Debitto had done no such thing. Even Jessabel wouldn't have denied that he was handsome, after all, she was not blind. By the end of the day, even some of the popular girls were batting their eyelashes at him though none of them dared to speak with for fear of damaging their reputations._

_Although the popular crowd wouldn't have touched the twins, the goths and the punks were ready to accept them with open arms. Unfortunately, their willingness was met with flippant disregard and they came away muttering something about 'anti-social bastards'. Instead, they seemed to prefer isolation and bugging Jessabel._

_After their first lesson, the twins decided to corner Jessabel by slamming her into the lockers as she attempted to get to her next class. A mixture of shock and pain seemed to freeze her mind and although she could see that Debitto was shouting at her, she couldn't seem to comprehend what he was saying. Jessabel was not used to being hurt, although gigs left her with a bad headache – despite not drinking – she was very rarely experienced physical pain first hand. She was also completely unaccustomed to being touched in any way, shape or form. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd been hugged, she assumed it had been when she was about five or so but that was beside the point._

_Someone else began talking to Jasdebi so the still rather confused young girl used the opportunity to slip away undetected to her next class. However, her escape was short lived because, as it was mentioned before, Jessabel shared all of her classes with the twins. They attempted to communicate to her several time via pieces of paper but Jessabel simply scrunched them up without even reading them._

_Though it was at lunch that the worst seemed to happen. The two of them had sat down at the same table as Jessabel and started talking to each other. Mostly they discussed the fact that all of the empty seats were around Jessabel, that she didn't have any friends and, most recently, that the pair of them had yet to here her speak. This had then led them into taking bets on whether Jessabel was or was not mute._

"_Go away," Jessabel muttered eventually._

"_Hii! See Debi, I told she could talk!" Jasdero shrieked, causing everyone in the cafeteria to look at him._

"_No you did not," Debitto said, hitting his twin on the head. "You just bet me five quid she was mute."_

"_Oh yeah, hii," Jasdero replied, much quieter than before._

_Seeing that this was getting her nowhere, Jessabel left and attempted to eat her lunch elsewhere. Thankfully the twins did not pursue her any further and she enjoyed her lunch the way she usually did; in relative silence and alone._

* * *

"Their names are Jasdero and Debitto," Marred informed her fellow band members. "They're typical delinquents and they're annoying."

"Are they cute?" Athame asked, ever on the lookout for a new boy-toy.

"Debitto is, the black haired one," Marred replied quietly. "Jasdero is… weird. His mouth is sewn shut."

"HA!" Bane cried in triumph, pointing at her elder sister. "I **told** you they weren't just painted on."

"Did they recognise you?" Ebony asked, ignoring the sisters as they started to argue.

"No," Marred assured her. "They're twins by the way."

"Cool," Bane remarked, breaking away from the argument. "Are the closet-punks or what?"

In the area in which the band lived and played, it wasn't uncommon for people to hide their love for the darker side of life. Many of band's fans in Marred's school kept very quite about it and only broke out the black makeup, the leather, the spikes and the chains when it was time for one of the band's gigs, rather like Marred herself. The other girls had noticed this among their own work and social circles and had dubbed these people as 'closet-punks'.

Marred shook her head with sardonic smile on her face. If those two could be considered closet-punks, she'd hate to see an open one.


	3. Possibilities

**A/N; Sorry it's short, I'm just about to go on holiday so I thought I'd put this up before I disappear for two weeks. Plus, I'm running out of ideas and I couldn't think of how to link this with the next bit. This is sort of just a filler.**

Jasdebi walked through the halls of their home, golden guns pointed lazily at each other. The mansion echoed with their steps, passing the noise down empty hallways and even emptier rooms. Jasdebi was bored. They had completed their newest computer game, the Earl was busy in Japan, none of the other Noahs were around for them to annoy and like hell they were actually going to _do_ the homework that the school had set them.

Jasdebi couldn't see why they'd been sent to school in the first place. The Earl had said something about getting retrained every hundred years but they hadn't really been listening, they'd been far more interested in getting back to their room to try out their upgraded guns. Now, they were starting to see a use; even if it was filled with disgusting humans, at least it was kind of entertaining. The teachers went blue in the face shouting at them and the students laughed, all except that girl.

What was her name? Jessable? Jessica? Jezebel? Nevermind, they couldn't remember, it certainly began with Jess, so they silently decided to refer to her as that. She was a strange girl, that guy had said she was mute but she _could_ talk, if only to get Jasdebi to leave her alone. That was another thing that puzzled Jasdebi. As far as they knew, humans liked the company of their own race and she was always on her own. They'd want to annoy her a little longer so when school had been let out, Jasdebi had attempted to follow the girl… the emphasis being on 'attempted'.

"Fuck, how'd we lose some stinking human in such a deserted place?" Debitto growled, finally speaking out loud.

"I dunno, hii," Jasdero replied. "Maybe she's an Exorcist."

The comment had only been said as a fleeting idea but the twins stopped as the words that left Jasdero's mouth. They turned their heads until they were looking the other dead in the eye, not even needing words to communicate what they were thinking.

_That would explain the fear._

Over the decades, Jasdebi had noticed that people looked at them with distrust. That seemed to be the normal reaction of humanity towards anyone who dressed the same way as Jesadebi, even among their own kind. However, when she'd bothered to look up to see who her new classmates were, there was shock in her eyes that soon turned to genuine fear. It had been well hidden behind those large glasses and didn't show at all in the face but it was still there.

Had she recognised them? It wasn't as if it was difficult, Jasdebi's human form wasn't dissimilar from their Noah form. Of course their skin was lighter and the stigma was gone but that made very little difference. So was that fear in her eyes, fear of discovery?

"That would explain why she's on her own," Debitto mumbled.

Twenty-first century Exorcists were nothing like those Jasdebi had faced back at the turn of the previous century. Like all humans, they had eventually decided that their lives were more important than anyone else's. They stopped wearing such obvious signs of allegiance to the Black Order as the Exorcist's coat and hid themselves away in normal society when they weren't on missions. They hid their calling from their friends and their families, leaving their long absences and sudden cancellations unexplained. No matter how good an Exorcist's social skills were, their double life took their toll on their friendships with other humans. They ended up isolated apart from a precious few or – as it would appear to be in Jess's case – with no one at all.

"Oh, what do we have here?" a voice said.

Jasdebi jumped before turning around to see the bloated mass that was the Millennium Earl behind them. As usual, he grinned showing his white teeth and the sun reflected on his glasses hiding his cruel yellow eyes. Relo floated behind him, the pink, pumpkin-headed umbrella partially hiding behind the Earl as it waited to see what was going on.

"We think we found an Exorcist, hii!" Jasdero blurted.

"Oh well isn't that nice," the Early commented. "But with all the military equipment around these days, we can't be seen to be making too much trouble. You'll have to confirm that this person is an Exorcist before you can kill them. And make sure they don't know what you're doing!"

Before Jasdebi could protest or even agree, the Earl grabbed Relo's handle and walked off, waddling as he went, leaving the twins on their own. They looked at each other, scowling at the thought of having to be careful. It meant they couldn't use Akuma to do the job and they would have to get hard evidence if they were to get permission to kill that girl.

"Well, even if they don't wear the coats anymore," Debitto mused. "They still usually keep some evidence in their homes."

"Yeah but we lost her when we tried to follow her home this afternoon, hii," Jasdero pointed out.

"I guess we'll have to get her to invite us home," Debitto shrugged, then grimaced. "We'll have to try and be her friend."

"And pretend to grieve when she dies," Jasdero added.

The thought made them sick. Be friends with a human? It was a revolting idea, but they had no choice. At least when it was over, an Exorcist would be exposed and they'd get to kill. It had been a really long time since they'd been allowed to shoot anyone. With the advancements in technology, Akuma and Noahs could be killed much more easily so they had keep a much lower profile than before. At least the military's method of destroying Akuma didn't salvage their soul, only Innocence could do that, but it still put the Noah clan at risk.

The twins longed to level up their guns at an Exorcist or some poor unsuspecting human and shout:

"Bang!"

And see the person die.

Jasdebi coughed as the dust and rubble made its way towards them. It soon cleared, leaving a large hole in the wall. Jasdebi looked at each other before running away. They _needed_ to kill soon.

That was the fifth wall this month.


	4. The Beginning of The End

Her mind buzzed with words that she couldn't write down fast enough, silently wishing her hands could keep up with her suddenly inspired brain

Her mind buzzed with words that she couldn't write down fast enough, silently wishing her hands could keep up with her suddenly inspired brain. The tune was already playing in her head; below and around the deceiving words, colouring them and hiding them at the same time.

A happy sigh escaped her lips as the last of the lyrics was committed to paper. Admittedly, her writing was almost completely illegible, a hasty scrawl that she herself could only just read, but it was there and the hurricane in her mind could begin to die down. She took her pencil away from the now sacred piece of paper, only to have it snatched from her and panic surge through her system.

Jessabel looked up to see the twins very near her, Debitto holding her newest masterpiece in his hand. He narrowed his eyes at the paper, no doubt trying to decipher Jessabel's handwriting as Jasdero leaned over his shoulder trying to do the same. Their faces were screwed up in concentration that Jessabel had yet to see them use in classes. She breathed another sigh of relief when they started turning it upside-down in an attempt to read it. The piece was still usable, they wouldn't recognise the lyrics later if they couldn't read them now.

"Poetry?" Debitto spat in disgust.

"You can read it, hii?" Jasdero asked his brother.

"Nah, but that's what it looks like," Debitto answered, handing it to the other twin.

Jasdero repeated the same process as his brother; squinting then trying to read it from different angles but apparently did no better than Debitto. Jessabel wanted to snap at them badly, correct them and say they were song lyrics not some meaningless poem. However, years of staying silent no matter what the situation had their effect. She remained in her chair without having said a word, the slight parting of her lips was the only clue to her almost-speech. She merely pushed her glasses further up her nose and waited. It would do her no good to correct them, it could give her away after all.

"I thought it would have been something important," Debitto mumbled under his breath.

At this Jessabel blinked in confusion. She titled her head to the side and looked at Debitto questioningly. It was her normal reaction when confused, something she did automatically. She hadn't actually intend for the action to provoke an explanation. However, it caught the older twin's attention regardless.

"You had a weird look on your face," Debitto said, obviously having trouble describing what he had noticed. "You rushed in here first thing, sat down and started writing. Then, just a second ago when you finished, you smiled."

"That's the first time we've seen you smile, hii," Jasdero added, handing back the beloved lyrics.

Surprise washed over Jessabel as her work was returned, she didn't realise that they had been paying such close attention to her. She turned away, her pale cheeks colouring slightly as she tried to think about what to do. She actually felt _flattered_ that they would notice those small things about her, that they would care or remember that it was the first time they'd seen her smile. She had a vague inclination that she should say something rather than just sit there in silence, but such an action went against everything in she had grown up to believe.

She bit her lip and mentally scolded herself as she caught herself thinking it would be nice to be friends with the twins. Being friends with other people was stupid, it only hurt you in the end. Jessabel had learnt that as a small child, people just left on your own eventually. It saved a lot of pain and suffering if you just stayed on your own from the very beginning. Families were hardly any different, even when they'd said they'd loved Jessabel, they just abandoned her as soon as possible. No doubt boyfriends were the same. Though Jessabel had no person experience, she was sure the only things they cared about were sex and money.

Jessabel was jogged out of her bitter mental rant when she heard chairs scrape behind her. She noticed with a sinking sensation that the twins had completed their mission to sit together... right behind her. She fought the urge to bang her head against her desk, she must have been so wrapped up in getting the lyrics down that she hadn't noticed where she was sitting. She took a few soothing deep breaths as she tried to console herself. Maybe, if she was lucky, they wouldn't do anything about their advantaged position. It was just as a piece of paper flicked off her ears that she was reminded of why she never relied purely on luck; it **always** failed her.

She turned around and glared at the offending twin, which happened to be Debitto, but he merely raised an eyebrow and pointed to Jasdero. Turning around further, Jessabel faced Jasdero who sat at a desk piled so high with tiny pieces of paper that Jessabel could only just see the paper-flicker over the top of it. When he noticed that Jessabel was watching him, he grinned broadly, the string stretching without any apparent effort to allow the facial movement. He waved enthusiastically before taking one of the pieces of paper and flicking it with deadly accuracy at the person sitting next to Jessabel. Said person – a boy named Sam – clasped his injured ear and turned to glare at Jasdero as Jessabel had done. However, Jasdero ignored him and set about aiming for the person on the other side of Debitto.

Eventually, after Jessabel had watched Jasdero successfully hit around five people on the ear, she turned to the front of the class with a small smile. He was kind of... cute, in a childish, annoying, 'Nightmare Before Christmas' sort of way. She vaguely wondered how Jasdero had sewn his mouth shut and when. It didn't look new or infected, so she assumed it had been done quite some time ago and rather effectively too. She also wondered whether it was possible for Jasdero to remove the string and what he would look like without it. A few moments of allowing her imagination to wander, permitted Jessabel to realise that the younger twin could probably give Debitto a run for his money if he _could_ take the string out. Though the holes left behind might be a turn-off.

Before Jessabel could dwell any further on the matter, their homeroom teacher arrived and promptly took attendance, stemming Jessabel's flow of thought.

It was around an hour and a half later, in their second lesson of the day, that Jasdebi attracted her attention once again. Jasdero had given up flicking pieces of paper when he was forced to leave the room to go to the next class. Needless to say, Jessabel was completely unprepared for the piece of paper that bounced off her head and into her lap. Slightly stunned and more than a little annoyed, Jessabel picked up the paper to see that it was a great deal larger than what Jasdero had flicked at her earlier. She turned it over to see a name written on the back; _Jess._

Jessabel's brow furrowed in confusion. There wasn't anyone named Jess in this class, or their year for that matter. A sigh of frustration escaped Jessabel's lips when she realised it was addressed to her and they had shortened her name. She hated being called Jess.

Ignoring the fact for a moment, Jessabel opened the note and read the contents; '_Can we eat lunch with you?'_ It was a simple enough request but something about being around the twins made her nervous and made her want to fidget. She scrawled back a single-word answer and tossed it (while their teacher wasn't looking) to Debitto who was sat beside her in this class. He opened it and read it with a frustrated frown. '_Why?'_ It read, making Debitto think the same... _why? Why does it matter?_

Debitto replied, his pencil scoring the paper deeply in his unconcealed annoyance. The paper was passed back to Jessabel who read it with a raised eyebrow. '_Because it was boring after you left. Duh.'_

Somehow, that did not make Jessabel feel better nor encourage her to agree to Debitto's request. Her version of yesterday's events included the twins making fun of her for not speaking. If that was what they called fun, Jessabel did not want to be their entertainment. She quickly wrote down her answer – '_My name is Jess__abel__,__not Jess and no, you may not sit with me'_ – and watched out of the corner of her eye as Debitto growled in frustration. Though Jessabel couldn't explain why, annoying Debitto made her feel happy. It was an emotion Jess was sadly unfamiliar with, unless she was singing, and it made her feel disappointed that she could get pleasure out of someone else's pain. She had always prided herself on the fact that she was very unlike the disgusting creatures that were the rest of human race, now she had to face the fact that she could be just as disgusting as them.

In response, Debitto glared at Jessabel openly but got caught by the teacher and forced to answer the question... or rather, come up with a smart remark. It was _Debitto_ after all. He quietly seethed as he tried to figure out why this human was being so stubborn. He'd tried to start a conversation with her and she'd turned away. He'd been polite enough to ask to join her for lunch - and being polite was not something Jasdebi did for anyone - and she actually refused! Did the stupid girl not understand how **low** he was reducing himself to for her?! He was beginning to think it would be better to hold their guns to Jessabel's head and force her to show them her house. Even if she wasn't an Exorcist they could kill her for having seen their Noah forms. It wasn't as if anyone would miss her.

Well, her family probably would… but how they could grieve for such an ungrateful little bitch was beyond Debitto's comprehension. It wasn't as if the girl was pretty or talented at anything. As far as Debitto could see she struggled at most of her subjects and needed serious help with her fashion-sense by _anyone's_ standards.

On that note, Debitto scribbled note to his twin; '_If this girl is going to be our 'friend' we need to do something about her clothes.'_ Jasdero received the note giggling as he usually did. He took a while to reply but the length of the answer justified that; '_Right. I think she should have her hair down, I think it's pretty.'_ Debitto rolled his eyes, Jasdero and his bizarre love for hair. '_It's the same colour as Marred's hair.'_ The note finished.

Ah, **Marred**.

Now that was a human Jasdero thought he might just be able to tolerate. They'd stumbled upon the band just over a year ago when the Earl had ordered them to search the area for Innocence. Instead of doing their work, Jasdebi had gone to a local nightclub where the band was playing and had been enraptured by the bands hate-humanity-and-screw-the-world lyrics as well as their lead singer who was only known as Marred. She had been half of the reason Jasdebi liked the band so much. Even though they preferred to stay near the back away from the humans who squashed themselves together, they could see Marred perfectly thanks to their enhanced eye-sight. She was beautiful, with deathly white skin, heavy black make-up, black wardrobe and fire-red hair. It was that sight and the sound of her voice that kept Jasdebi going back to see the band every week and Debitto could fully understand why a human could grieve over someone's death if it was Marred that died. Hell, if that happened, he and Jasdero would be the first in line to shoot the bastard who was responsible for Marred's death.

But a comparison between Marred and this girl was unthinkable. If Debitto could bring himself to think about it, he supposed that their hair was a _similar_ colour but Jessabel's hair didn't shine nearly as much as Marred's. And if Jasdero squinted really hard, he supposed there was some sort of resemblance between the two. However, the two girls were at such opposite ends of the spectrum that the thought of them being the same person never occurred to the Noah twins. So Jasdebi shrugged and went back to torturing those around them with whatever method came to mind.


	5. Stalkers

Jessabel walked home, sighing heavily. The twins had decided to try and follow her home again but that didn't bother her. The pair were new to the town and didn't know its series of nooks and crannies nearly as well as Jessabel. She'd lived there all her life and had plenty of experience of losing stalkers before they could trail her home.

What bothered Jessabel was why they were bothering in the first place because she simply had no idea. They obviously didn't know she was Marred, they weren't subtle enough to keep _that_ to themselves, so what other reason would they have for wanting to get to know her? She wasn't popular, she wasn't particularly smart, she wasn't artistic, no one knew she could sing or wrote music. She had gone to great lengths to make sure she wasn't considered mysterious or pretty.

"So what does that leave?" she asked herself. "Nothing. As far as I know."

She hitched her bag back on her shoulder as it began to fall down and pushed all thoughts of the twins out of her mind. Her home came into sight, the scruffy garden hiding the figure crouched at her doorway until Jessabel almost fell over him. Jessabel raised an eyebrow in a cold but strangely elegant manner, raising it above her round glasses. A boy sat on her doorstep, his short light brown hair sticking up at odd angles and his pale skin smudged with dirt. The boy was no older than eight, almost half Jessabel's age, but his large brown eyes sought out her own showing hunger for not only food but pity.

"How long?" Jessabel asked, fishing in her pockets for her front door key.

"Around an hour," the boy answered, his voice cracking half-way. "She didn't even tell me, I just heard her pull out of the driveway in Dad's car."

"Did she leave you anything to eat?" Jessabel asked, turning her back on him to open the door.

The boy simply shook his head, fully aware that Jessabel knew the answer anyway and followed her into the cottage. She led him into the kitchen and began to rummage through her fridge, looking for something that the kid could eat. There wasn't much, nothing that wouldn't take around an hour to cook properly. By the look in his eyes, Jessabel knew that the boy hadn't eaten lunch yet either.

"I don't think she was sober when she left," he mumbled, trying to erase the uncomfortable silence.

The boy's name was Mark. He lived next door to Jessabel and his parents had paid her to babysit him when he was younger. Mark's family had been happy until his father had died just under two years ago, stolen by cancer, which turned his mother into an alcoholic. She would just leave Mark unattended for days on end, leaving him to starve and go unwashed or, alternatively, she would leave him on Jessabel's doorstep and expect her to take care of Mark. Though Jessabel seemed cold, she couldn't refuse a child too young to fend himself and always did what she could to help him. She didn't speak very much, even to Mark, but she fed him, she helped him with his homework, listened to him when he needed to talk to someone and she – very occasionally – held him when he cried. So eventually, Mark had become more dependent on Jessabel than his own mother. This sudden appearance on Jessabel's doorstep was nothing more than a regular occurrence.

"What do you want to eat?" Jessabel asked, turning to the abused little boy.

"Burger?" he said shrugging, not really sure what to say.

"McDonalds it is then," Jessabel decided, walking towards the front door.

"Really? Are you serious, Bel?" Mark asked, his brown eyes suddenly bright from anticipation. "Can I have a Happy Meal?"

Jessabel nodded, ignoring the nickname. He'd only been four when Jessabel had started babysitting him and Jessabel was a long word. So the cold young girl had allowed him the liberty of calling her Bel. Three and a half years on, the nickname remained but Jessabel chose to ignore it. Jess was the name that she loathed, Bel was… acceptable.

Half an hour later, Jessabel and Mark had walked into the centre of town and were walking towards the nearest McDonalds. Mark raced ahead, excited at prospect of eating out for the first time in well over a year, calling to Jessabel to hurry up. She merely wandered at her own pace, watching Mark to make sure he didn't cause any trouble. Unfortunately, she didn't watch close enough and Mark bumped straight into someone walking the other way.

"Watch it, hii!" the person laughed.

Mark looked up to see two nightmares staring down on him. Dressed in mismatched clothing and black makeup, Jasdebi were a frightening sight to eight-year-old Mark. He gave a small yelp of fear and ran away, trying to find Jessabel in the bustle of the town centre. He eventually found her, babbling out his terrifying ordeal to Jessabel at breakneck speed. His words tumbled over each other and made it incomprehensible. She stared down at him levelly, waiting for him to calm down before she asked him what was wrong. However, before she could, she was bombarded by an ordeal of her own.

"Jess!" someone shouted from behind Jessabel.

She turned around, recognising the voice, only to have Jasdero latch onto her. Being that much taller than her, Jasdero hugged Jessabel round her shoulders and laid his head affectionately down on hers. In the space of around a day, Jasdero had convinced himself that having a friend was kind of like having a pet. They needed to be fed, walked and kept happy by spending time with them. They were also fragile things that needed to be taken care of so when Jasdebi lost Jessabel in the town centre earlier as they were following her home, Jasdero had begun to get worried. Bumping into her again was a great relief which Jasdero expressed by giving her a huge hug.

This caused Jessabel's mind to go into overload. Her body stiffened and what little colour she had drained from her face. Her blue eyes became very wide behind her glasses and she found herself unable to think. She could feel her heart begin to quicken and the colour slowly returned to her cheeks though, mysteriously, not to any other part of her face. Thankfully for her, Mark was going to grow up to be the jealous type and immediately forgot his fear of the freakish thing that had attached itself to Bel.

"Let go!" Mark demanded, punctuating his request by kicking the thing until it did as he said. "Her name's not Jess, it's Bel, and you're not allowed to hug her!"

"Ow, ow, hii," Jasdero complained, trying to manoeuvre himself out of Mark's way without letting go of Jessabel. "Ow! Go away you little brat, hii."

Eventually however, Mark changed tactics and stamped down on Jasdero's toes. Jasdero yelped in pain, grasping his injured foot as he hopped about. Debitto chose this moment to finally catch up to his twin brother and step in by grabbing Mark by the collar of his shirt.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you little brat?" Debitto growled in his face. "How dare you-"

Before Debitto could finish, Jessabel had grabbed his wrist and was trying to pry the boy out of his grip. Debitto watched her in bored confusion. What was she trying to achieve? There was no way a measly little human could overpower a member of the Noah clan, even if they were an Exorcist. He continued to watch the kid in his hand wriggle and writhe until his shirt eventually slipped out of Debitto's grasp. The two humans both stepped back until they were at what they considered a safe distance. By this time Debitto had given up out of boredom and Jasdero was watching with vague interest.

"Who's he?" Debitto asked, pointing at the kid.

"My name's Mark," he answered, glaring at the older boy. "I live next door to Bel."

"We weren't talking to you, hii," Jasdero sneered at him before turning to Jessabel. "Why's he here?"

Jessabel simply pointed to the McDonalds behind her before tugging on Mark's sleeve and walking away. She didn't see Jasdebi look at each other and shrug, deciding silently that they should follow. It had taken over half an hour to find her, they weren't willing to lose her again quite so soon. Besides, if they were lucky, she couldn't lose them with the kid in tow and she'd lead them straight to her house.

After getting food for Mark, Jessabel sat down at a table with him and waited for him to finish. She couldn't stand fast food so she simply sat there and watched him enjoy the greasy meal. The twins had been behind her in the queue so she was prepared – if a little annoyed – when they sat down at the same table, either side of her. She stared straight ahead, towards Mark and ignored the twins as the proceeded to scoff down their individual mountains of food at an alarming rate. It was disgusting to say the least and Jessabel was forced to close her eyes to suppress the nausea. She jumped when Jasdebi slung their arms around her shoulders, her eyes flying wide open and bringing her back to reality.

"Let go," she hissed quietly.

She struggled out of their grasp, glaring at them as Jasdero returned the look with a mixture of confusion and hurt. Debitto, ever the more short tempered of the two, chose to defy Jessabel's less than polite request by grabbing hold of her upper arm. She thrashed out at him, her efforts to get free verging on desperation but Debitto resorted to his superior Noah strength to keep hold of her.

"Stop that," he demanded. "What the hell is wrong with you? All I'm doing is holding your fucking arm. You've got no bloody reason to act this way."

Any more abuse was stemmed by Jessabel using her free limb to slap Debitto across the face. Pure shock made the Noah twin let go of Jessabel's arm and he turned to look her in the eye. Debitto had never been good at reading emotions and the turmoil in Jessabel's blue irises was not an easy puzzle to solve. He recognised flashes of fear, hatred and disgust, all things he was used to seeing but the combination was tainted by a flash of something else which he couldn't identify. Jessabel turned away sharply, adjusting her glasses which had been dislodged in the small fight.

"She doesn't like being touched," Mark pointed out, helping himself to some of Debitto's chips. "By anyone."

"Get off my chips you little thief," Debitto growled, his attention successfully diverted from Jessabel.

"Why not, hii?" Jasdero asked Jessabel while Debitto started to fight with Mark.

Jessabel merely shrugged. It was not a subject she fully understood herself, nor one she liked to talk about. Feigning ignorance had proved the best method of evasion over the years.

"She once said it's not normal," Mark supplied to Jasdero whilst fighting to get more chips from his twin. "For her, at least."

"Nobody asked you," Debitto growled, having a surprising amount of trouble with the small boy. "You're not her fucking translator."

"What's not normal, hii?" Jasdero asked Mark, undermining Debitto's authority for probably the first time in his life.

"To be touched," Jessabel answered for herself.

This stunned Jasdebi into silence and allowed Mark to grab a few more chips from Debitto's almost completely demolished mountain of food. However, before her answer could be questioned any further, she stood up and moved as far away from the twins as possible. She tugged at Mark's sleeves again and they left restaurant, only to have Jasdebi follow them. After a while, even when Jessabel led them in circles, they persisted.

"Mark, go home," Jessabel whispered.

"You sure?" Mark asked, concerned for his guardian. "I can stay."

"Just go," Jessabel replied.

Still uncertain, Mark headed off in the direction of home. Jasdero noticed this and went to follow the young boy when Debitto grabbed him.

"What are you doing?" the elder twin asked. "She's getting away!"

Jasdero turned his attention back to Jess and noticed she'd broken into a sprint. Surprised, Jasdebi forgot about Mark and hurried after their original prey. Eventually they caught up with her, she grounded to a halt outside an small cottage overrun with ivy. She panted and leaned on the wall, tired from the exertion of running for so long. Jessabel was under the false impression that she had lost the twins and scrabbled to her feet when they suddenly appeared in front of her. She broke into a run again, despite her fatigue, before being caught.

"Oh no, you don't," Debitto growled. "This stops right here. We want answers."

Jessabel struggled, not even bothering to dignify the demand with speech. Having the boys grab hold of her sent a shiver up her spine and fear into her heart. She couldn't explain the first reaction, which scared Jessabel even more. She dug her nails, which had been filed into points, into the boys' flesh. She clawed at them, resorting to any means necessary to _get them __**off**__ her_. They wouldn't budge. They didn't even flinch. It was almost as though they couldn't feel her resistance.

She was tired from running and she hadn't got any more strength. Eventually, she stopped and went limp. She was barely holding herself up and fighting back tears. A mixture of emotions raged inside her. As panic subsided, she felt the violation of being touched, the absolute revulsion. She felt helpless confusion as she struggled to comprehend why they were doing this to her. What had she done to them?

"Stupid bitch," Debitto muttered under his breath. "Oi, get up. Where d'you live?"

Jessabel stayed silent although she did manage to stand up as ordered. She turned away from the twins, staring resolutely at the ground.

"Come on, hii," Jasdero coaxed, far gentler than his brother. "We just want to talk to you."

"Leave me alone," Jessabel mumbled.

"When are you gonna get it through your thick head that we're not gonna do that?" Debitto shouted. "We're not gonna leave you alone, not ever."

"Liar!" Jessabel screamed.

With sudden strength, she made one last attempt to resist. She jerked her arms away from the twins sharply, surprising Jasdebi into letting her go. She stumbled back, pushing Debitto away from her. The tears that she had held back poured down her cheeks before she removed her glasses to rub them furiously. She shoved the glasses back on roughly, ignoring the tears that replaced the ones she had wiped away.

"Everyone leaves me alone, always!" Jessabel shouted at them. "So don't you dare tell you're not going to. Everyone leaves eventually, including you, so just hurry up and disappear!"

Not waiting for their reaction, Jessabel whirled around to face the cottage. She fumbled clumsily with the key before finally opening the door and slamming it behind her. She collapsed, back against the door and sobs escaped her lips. She sank to the ground, hugging her knees to her chest in a vain attempt to console herself. Slowly, her sobbing became quieter and her breathing evened out.

"Shit," she whispered to herself. "Shit, _shit, __**shit**_. Why can't I just keep my mouth shut? They're going to think I'm just lonely."

"Aren't you?"

Jessabel jolted to her feet. Eyes, already swollen and red from crying, widening to a comical extent. She backed herself against the door, her throat dry and unable to scream.

"How the hell did you get in?" she whispered hoarsely.


	6. Breaking and Entering

Standing in her hallway, Jasdebi leaned against each other. They grinned stupidly, amused by her shock which only served to boil Jessabel's blood.

"You left the kitchen window open, hii," Jasdero pointed out.

Jessabel frowned. She was normally very careful with locking up while she was out. She certainly didn't remember unlocking the window when she got home from school. She hadn't heard them either. There were numerous breakable or metallic items under the kitchen window and Jasdebi had managed to be utterly silent. Pushing her doubts aside, Jessabel pulled herself away from the door and opened it.

"Get out," she said quietly, though Jasdebi could hear her quite clearly.

"No chance," the twins replied.

"We want answers, hii," Jasdero replied, mimicking his brother's earlier demand.

"I don't have to answer anything," Jessabel insisted.

She grit her teeth and tried to stay calm. The young girl had managed to keep her voice steady talking with Jasdebi but in all honesty she was scared. These two had already proven that they were stronger than she was and crying had made her even more tired than before. There was no way she could simply force them to leave, short of calling the police. Unfortunately, that would involve calling Anastasia back from Oxford. The last thing Jessabel needed was to alert the police to the fact that she was living alone without a responsible adult.

"Nice place you got here," Debitto sneered.

Jessabel snapped out of her worried daydreams to glare at the elder twin. Though Debitto was being sarcastic, the house was nice. It was well furnished, most of the rooms had been repainted the year before and it that 'lived in' look. It didn't reflect the true state of Jessabel's life; the emptiness and solitude she lived in. To Jasbedi, it looked like the typical home of a happy middle class family.

And it sickened them.

"It's all right," Jessabel answered, feeling mildly defensive about her home.

"Where are your parents, hii?" Jasdero asked, looking around as though they might pop out from nowhere.

"Out," Jessabel replied sharply.

"So you won't mind the company," Debitto countered. "After all, you are **lonely**."

"I am not lonely," Jessabel hissed, pointing out of the still open doorway. "Just get out. Having to deal with you in school is bad enough."

The twins shot each other a look full of mischief, which made Jessabel uneasy. She eyed them suspiciously as they grinned at each other. Much to her surprise, Jasdebi simply shrugged and walked out the door. By now the combination of the twins' smiles and their readiness to comply was actually starting to scare Jessabel. Just before they left, the pair turned to face Jessabel once again.

"See ya tomorrow, Bel," they said in unison.

Freaked out beyond anything that Jessabel had ever experienced before, she slammed the door. The entire house shook with the force she used but Jessabel could hear Jasdebi laughing on the other side of the door. Jessabel's breathing was uneven and her hands were shaking long after their laughter died away. She sat down on her bed, legs cross and her face placed in her hands. It was more than an hour later that she realised that Jasdebi had actually referred to her as 'Bel' rather than Jess. It was better than Jess but there was something about the way they said it that sent shivers down Jessabel's spine.

"Two days," Jessabel whispered. "Two days and they're already driving me insane."

Two hours later, the sound of a car drew nearer. She got up from her bed, vaguely interested and finally paying attention to the rest of the world. She cocked her head to one side, trying to identify the car by the sound of its engine.

"Not Gabriel, not Lucrecia, not Elizabeth and _definitely_ not Anastasia," she decided, counting out her siblings one by one. "Maybe… yeah, Mark's mother."

The car pulled up outside Mark's house and a few minutes later the customary crashes and smashing glass could be heard. The noise died down and Jessabel dragged herself downstairs. She opened it to find the small boy slumped against the door, a nasty gash scored into his forehead and glass sprinkled onto his hair making it sparkle. There was no point in trying to wake Mark, he had slipped into the blissful unawareness that was unconsciousness and his body was a dead weight as Jessabel pulled him inside.

* * *

Hours later, the land fell into a sleeping silence as darkness blanketed the town. Out on the outskirts, two gun-shots ripped through the air simultaneously, followed by the muffled crash of two corpses hitting the ground. Dogs howled and cats screeched, more than twenty homes were awoken by the abrupt disturbance and half an hour passed before the animals had calmed down and the police had been called. However, by then the bodies were gone, as were the guns and any evidence that they had ever been there. A single figure walked away from the alley where the gun-shots had been heard, staggeringly slightly as they got used to their combined form.

"Now where was that house?" Jasdebi muttered.

Though it would have been faster to have searched as separate entities, Jasdebi had decided their combined form would be better for searching Bel's house. Their combined form tended to be quieter, faster and less conspicuous. Jasdebi was also less easily distracted. Bel's outburst had mildly confused them but as one they could ignore the nagging feeling at the back of their mind, the one that hinted that Bel wasn't an Exorcist. Instead they could search her house, find out if she was an Exorcist and act accordingly; kill her if she was and ignore her if she wasn't. Thought, for some reason they couldn't place, the thought of just _ignoring_ Bel made them feel slightly uncomfortable. Even in the their combined form.

They shook their head vigorously, they were part of the Noah Clan and even if she was just a human, she would have to die eventually. At that moment, they found the small country cottage that Bel called home and pulled out the key which they had stolen on the way out. It slipped in nicely, opening the door without so much as a creak. The cottage looked deserted during the night as Jasdebi wandered down the hallway into the living room. It was almost creepy.

They entered the room, scanning it before actually beginning to search. Jasdebi gave a start when they saw Bel lying on the couch, thinking at first that she was awake. However, after a few moments, they calmed down and saw she was in fact asleep, still dressed in the clothes they had seen her in hours before. They titled their head to the side wondering why she was sleeping there, examining her as they hadn't when she was awake. Her normally prestine clothes were rumpled and her white blouse was stained with blood that wasn't her own, though tiny cuts decorated her hands like splattered paint. Her plait, which always had stray ends coming loose, was now partially undone and her hair fell free from the middle of her back. Her large, rounded glasses were held in her hand, their absence causing the shape of her face to change into something more angled and adult. They reached down a brushed a few stray strands of hair from her face, placing them gently behind her ear as they felt the soft skin that lined her cheek.

Realising that they were being distracted, Jasdebi pulled back sharply and left the room after deciding they would search it last. Apart from the living room and the kitchen attached to it, there were three rooms on the ground floor. The first turned out to be a study, filled with complicated books that Jasdebi had neither the patience nor the intelligence to read. None of them seemed to be on the Black Order and the computer, which was situated in the corner of the room, was protected by passwords so they gave up and moved on to the next room.

This was a dining room, large enough to seat a family of six and held no clues that indicated that Bel was an Exorcist. With an exasperated sigh, Jasdebi entered the last room on the ground floor, only to raise an eyebrow in surprise. The room was far bigger than any of the others, simple in its design so that one could focus on the black grand piano that stood in its centre. Once one had gotten over the shock of such an impressive sight, they noticed that there were other instruments in the room; three guitars, a violin and a flute. Jasdebi wondered how many of the instruments Bel could play but just shrugged it off. Satisfied that there would be nothing in there, Jasdebi wandered upstairs.

Five rooms greeted them, all of them bedrooms except for a bathroom to the side. There was nothing of interest to Jasdebi in any of them except for Mark sleeping in the one at the end of the hall. The first one on the right was a teenage boy's room, the walls painted black and filled with nude models and rock band posters. The room opposite was pink and filled with stuffed toys, contrasted by posters of male models and pop singers on the ceiling. The room beyond this one was a similar polymerisations of adolescent and childhood interests but this time much bigger and of two separate female minds judging by the two beds at either end of the room. Despite all of the stuff that had accumulated in the rooms, they all appeared to be long since abandoned and contained no reference to the Black Order or the Millennium Earl.

"Nothing, nothing, nothing," Jasdebi muttered as he searched the last room.

This was distinctly different from the other four rooms. It was plain and significantly smaller than the rest. Jasdebi had expected this to be the parents' room because it was the only room left in the house but the bed was only big enough for one. Said item of furniture was one of the only clues to who the room belonged to (the other clues being the piled up desk in the corner and the clothing in the wardrobe). Oddly, in the bed lay Mark, a bandage wrapped firmly around his head as he slept deeply. Jasdebi ignored the boy and flicked noisily through the papers that had accumulated on the desk, seeing only more poetry and scrawled out notes on rough music-scores. With a sigh, they left the paper and stood there deciding what to do.

"So, she's not an Exorcist," Jasdebi muttered to themself. "Or at least, there's nothing in her house that would suggest she's an Exorcist. Wonder why she's so scared of us… weird girl. Oh well, better keep an eye on her anyway."

Jasdebi's eyes wandered to the bed where the boy lay. This was obviously Bel's room, somehow they didn't envision her as a lover of pink or fluffy animals _or_ jumped up male pop-stars who can't see past the sun shining out of their own arses. Despite only knowing her for two days, Jasdebi had already got an idea of what Bel was like – whether they were right or wrong was a completely insignificant matter to them – and they were sure that Bel had better taste than that. This had been confirmed by the secret stash of black clothing in the back of Bel's wardrobe which Jasdebi had noticed with great interest. So obviously, this was Bel's room and she had put the little brat in her bed and decided to sleep on the couch.

For some reason, this small act of courtesy didn't sit well with Jasdebi. They glared at the sleeping boy before hauling him roughly out of the bed and dumping him in the hallway, miraculously avoiding waking Mark up. After stomping downstairs, they entered the living room and started to look around, just making sure the evidence they were searching for wasn't in the one room they hadn't yet checked. They searched the room thoroughly but every few seconds found their gaze drifting back to the sleeping figure on the couch and soon found that said couch was the only place they hadn't checked.

"We have to search it," they reasoned, ignoring the fact that several books in the study had remained unchecked. "Otherwise we might miss something. But we have to put Bel somewhere else while we check."

After pondering this for a few seconds, they decided they might as well put her back in her room where she belonged. It was better than having to search the couch while Bel was in the room, leaving whether she woke up or not to chance. That decided, Jasdebi slid their arms underneath the sleeping Bel and slowly lifted her so that she was cradled against their chest. Briefly, her eyes fluttered open before closing again and Jasdebi let out the breath they hadn't realised they'd been holding. They walked upstairs and gently placed Bel under the covers of her bed, agreeing it was best to leave her in her clothes, before leaving again.


	7. Family Ties

**A/N; Hi, just a quick word. Would anyone be so kind (other than my dear friend jeanne124ave) care to review? I get basically no feedback on this story and its becoming a little lonely out here.**

Waking up where you do not remember falling asleep is not a comforting situation. Finding that a small boy left in your care is also missing and your house has been trashed makes it no better.

"Shit, _shit, __**shit, **__**SHIT!**_" Jessabel shouted as the consequences of the situation occurred to her.

She'd managed to sleep in and if she didn't get to school soon, she would be late. However, she couldn't simply leave the house like it was and she should at least phone the police. Her mind struggled to keep up with that was happening but eventually came up with a vague idea.

She rummaged around in her room to discover (much to her relief) that her phone hadn't been stolen and dialled the first number on the list. It rung six times before going to the answer machine and Jessabel hung up before it asked her to leave a message. Jessabel repeated this ritual four times before eventually giving up. She angrily dialled another number and breathed a sigh of relief when someone finally picked up the phone.

"Hello, Greidan residence, Megan speaking, how can I help?" a female voice answered.

"Um, hi, can I speak to Gabriel?" Jessabel asked hesitantly before remembering her manners, "Please."

"Certainly, who should I say is calling?"

"Jessabel."

Though the conversation was muffled, Jessabel could still make out the exchange between Megan and Gabriel Greidan. The wife called out to her husband and exchanged the information that Jessabel had provided her with. There was a short pause before a sudden crash and the phone was hastily picked up.

"Hello?" a strained male voice asked. "Jess, is that you?"

"Jessabel," she corrected automatically. "I hate that name, Gabe."

The teenager could hear the male breath a sigh of relief. In times of crisis, when Jessabel was unable to think what to do next, she called her eldest sibling; her brother Gabriel. Jessabel was the youngest of five, only one of them being male and said male being the only one to really care about Jessabel. He had been the one to make sure that Jessabel knew how and was able to look after herself. Because of this, he occupied a special and reserved place in her heart which had only been partially been destroyed when he'd moved out and away from Jessabel.

Despite this relatively close relationship, Jessabel rarely talked to Gabriel, preferring the safety of emails to keep in touch. That way, it was much harder for Gabriel to tell if she was lying or make any sudden rash decisions (something he only did when one of his little sisters were in danger.) Jessabel infrequently phoned any of her siblings and asked for help even less frequently. The very idea of seeking help made Jessabel want to cut out her own tongue… well, almost.

However before Jessabel could say anything, Gabriel began speaking. His words were muffled and after a few seconds, Jessabel gathered her elder brother was having a conversation with his wife.

"It's Jessabel… yes, the youngest… no I don't know why she's calling, I haven't asked her yet…"

"We have a problem," Jessabel interrupted, supplying him with the answer.

"Yes, I'm just- What problem?" Gabriel asked.

"The house was broken into last night," she informed him. "Every room's been searched and I can't see how they got in."

"What?!" the man shouted, making Jessabel hold the phone at arm's length. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, nothing's wrong with me but what do I do?" Jessabel asked, diplomatically leaving out being moved during the night.

"You phone the police, what else?" Gabriel suggested in exasperation. "Look around the house and see if anything's missing, make a list if there is."

"Anastasia wasn't here," Jessabel pointed out calmly.

"Ah," Gabriel said, realisation dawning on him. "When was the last time she was at the house?"

"Two weeks ago," Jessabel replied. "She's not answering her phone either."

Muffled swearing could just be heard on the other side of the phone.

"You still have to phone the police," Gabriel decided resignedly. "Delay giving them Anastasia's details as long as possible – if they mistake you for being older than you are, then encourage that for a while – I'll phone Anastasia and give her some warning. She was staying with her boyfriend, yeah?"

"That's what she told me."

"Right, then it was just overnight, okay?" Gabriel assured her. "Don't worry, even if they try to take you away, I'll defend us until the last."

A small smile tugged at Jessabel's lips, having a criminal defence lawyer in the family had its uses. Gabriel may have abandoned her as a child but he was just as protective of her as he was of any of his siblings. That was decidedly more than Jessabel could say for any of her sisters.

"Sure," Jessabel replied. "And thanks."

Jessabel put down the phone and steadied her nerves. Anastasia was the youngest of Jessabel's siblings and in her first year of university. The older girl was extremely irresponsible and often left Jessabel living on her own for weeks on end without a phone call or email to confirm things were all right. Jessabel didn't really care. Anastasia was her opposite and it was a relief not to deal with her every day of her life.

Unfortunately, she was the only one of Jessabel's siblings in a position to be Jessabel's parental guardian. All of Jessabel's siblings had jobs that need them to be in certain places; Gabriel lived in London because he worked at an influential law firm there; Jessabel's eldest sister Lucrecia lived in Oxford as one of their youngest but most promising surgeons; her second eldest sister, Elizabeth, was practically making headlines as the new manager of a top modelling company and seemed to spend most of her life on a plane travelling from one country to the next. And only God in heaven – if he _did_ exist – knew where her parents were.

That left Jessabel in the undesirable position of having to look after the youngest of her siblings; Anastasia. Being nearly four years younger than Anastasia, most people would have assumed that it was Anastasia's job to look after Jessabel. However, this was simply not the case. Anastasia needed cleaning up after, cooking for, picking up and making sure she didn't kill herself after having too much to drink or getting dumped by her latest boyfriend. The fact that Anastasia hated Jessabel did not help this situation at all.

The two of them were chalk and cheese. The only thing that Jessabel had in common with her sister was their complete academic inadequacy and even then they differed. Jessabel had chosen to work hard and climb inch by inch until she reached the high grades she now received. Anastasia, however, had given up and focused on her social life, becoming the life of the party, rarely standing still or silent. She was _always_ surrounded by friends and, more often than not, screwing three different guys.

But now, much to Jessabel's distaste, she needed Anastasia. The older girl was her legal guardian and it was only because Anastasia 'lived' in the house that Jessabel was allowed to remain in the family home. Jessabel couldn't really see much between her current life and being forced into a foster home for the next month or so. However, there was a tiny part of Jessabel that wanted to hang onto her flesh and blood, particularly Gabe.

Reluctantly, Jessabel picked up the phone again.

"Hello… can I speak to the police? My house has been broken into."

* * *

Four hours later, the police had left and the only thing that remained to do was to clean up the house. Nothing had actually been stolen and Jessabel quietly left out the fact she'd been moved during the night. There had been a small scare when Jessabel had informed the police that Mark was missing but this was quickly cleared up; apparently he'd had the foresight to go to school as normal.

In the end, Anastasia and Gabriel had made their way back to their childhood home in aid of keeping the family together. From what Jessabel could tell, Gabriel had threatened Anastasia to get her to come back because she was sullen and dishevelled when she arrived. Gabriel, in contrast, was dressed impeccably and looked every inch a lawyer when he confronted the police. Jessabel couldn't help but smile as the two policemen scrambled about, trying to keep on her brother's good side.

Though Jessabel was thankful for the assistance, she promised to clean up the house herself and got rid of them as quickly as possible. Anastasia went willingly, leaving as soon as she could without bringing Gabriel's wrath upon her. Gabriel on the other hand insisted on saying and talking to Jessabel as long as possible. The conversations were awkward and Jessabel remained as evasive as she could without her brother losing his temper.

It was just as school let out that Jessabel finally managed to shoo her eldest sibling away. She said goodbye to him and even let him have the privilege of a hug. Jessabel tried to ignore the fact that a hug from her brother didn't seem to be the same – or even as nice – as the hugs she had received from that psychopath Jasdero. It was then, as though thinking of them summoned the pair, that Jessabel saw them.

They were on the other side of the road, sitting on the garden fence of the house opposite. They had their eyes trained on Jessabel and they frowned at her. Jessabel felt a sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach at the mere sight of them.

"Jessabel?" her brother called, breaking the twins' hold on her. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jessabel mumbled, managing a weak smile. "I'll talk to you later."

"Sure," Gabriel replied. "But… I was just wondering if you'd like to come up to the flat, the weekend after next. You know, you've never met Megan or Jessica. It's Jessica's birthday on that Saturday and we're having a small party-"

"I'll see what I can do," Jessabel replied dismissively. "But I'm not promising anything."

"All right," Gabriel replied grudgingly. "If you ever need to talk…"

"I'll call you," Jessabel assured him, though she had no intention of doing so.

No sooner had Gabriel left, driving away in his rather expensive car, that Jasdebi were forcing their way into Jessabel's house. They were definitely not happy and Jessabel silently wondered what she had done to upset them this time.


	8. Piercings

**a/n; here we go again, I've got load of inspiration for this. I'm probably going to have my English teacher kill me (I'm meant to be doing Alevel coursework) and I can't find anything to write for my Kandaxoc story. Anyway, nevermind, eenjoy!**

At first, the pair said nothing, they simply barged past Jessabel and walked into the house. They surveyed the damage with disinterest and made their way into the living room. Jasdebi were not a comforting sight; dressed almost purely in black today and with more make-up than usual, they made Jessabel nervous. Though it wasn't actually their appearance that scared Jessabel, but the way they almost seemed to be _sulking_.

Jessabel followed them into the living room hesitantly, doing her best to hide her growing fear of the boys. They had made an absolute fool of Jessabel yesterday and she had no intention of letting it happen again. However, they momentarily glared at her as she entered the room – like she was the intruder rather than them – making Jessabel's resolve falter.

"Nice place," Debitto sneered, repeating him own words from the day before.

"We got burgled," Jessabel informed them icily.

"Is that why you weren't at school? Hii," Jasdero asked.

Jessabel nodded, waiting for them to continue. Silence reigned and Jessabel resisted the urge to shuffle around. She was good with silence, silence was comforting, but she'd been standing up for the past hour talking to her brother and her feet were aching. Jasdebi had positioned themselves on the couch nearest to her and there was a relatively thin stretch of carpet leading past them to the only comfortable chair in the room. She wanted to sit down but there was something in her gut that warned her not to get any closer to the demonic twins than she was.

"Oi, are ya just going to stand there?" Debitto demanded, apparently reading her thoughts.

Jessabel narrowed her gaze at the elder twin before briefly considering sitting down on the floor. She grit her teeth as she realised that it would only show that she was scared of them and she _wanted_ to sit down. She breathed in and walked past the twins as fast as she could manage without giving herself away. She felt one of them grab her wrist and the backlash, combined with their strength, flung her backwards. The redhead landed clumsily on top of the twins, making a small exclamation of pain. Before she could really register what was happening, the pair of them managed to manoeuvre her into sitting between them.

The couch was relatively small, it was ideally made for two but it could fit three people at a stretch. Thankfully, Jessabel was relatively thin and the twins shared a lean build, but there was barely any breathing room between them. Jasdero, trying to make himself more comfortable, placed his arm around Jessabel's shoulders. The aforementioned recluse started to wriggle in Jasdebi's grip. Her mouth was suddenly dry and it felt as though someone was gripping her throat. Sitting between the twins was making her unnaturally hot and her heart was beating faster than normal.

"Oi, stop that!" Debitto demanded.

Despite Jessabel's intentions, her small movements had only served to push her closer to Jasdebi and it annoyed Debitto. The urge to make her sit in between them had been weird enough and Jasdero putting his arm around the human was ticking him off already. The last thing he need was the girl snuggling up to them and making him feel… bizarre. It was kind of like how he felt before he and Jasdero went into battle – nervous and excited – but without the blood-lust. Debitto didn't really understand it, ergo, it annoyed him.

Jessabel, who didn't like what was happening anymore than Debitto did, complied and sat still. She turned her head to look at Jasdero, finding herself staring at the embroidery on his face. She wondered again where on earth he had got it done. It really was a shame, he could have been truly handsome if he hadn't had it done. Though that did beg the question; did he have it done by choice?

Sub-consciously, Jessabel reached up and touched the black thread. Jasdero froze, watching her with wide eyes as Jessabel traced the string that decorated his mouth, pausing at each of the holes to further explore them with her fingers. Debitto watched from the other side, his gaze narrowed first on Bel's fingers then on the calm, thoughtful expression that her face displayed.

"Did it hurt?" she asked quietly, pulling her hand away.

Jasdero nodded vaguely, still staring at Bel. He was confused by Bel's gentleness. Humans weren't gentle with him or Debitto. They hit them or threw things at them even when they were in their human forms. They shouted at them, swore at them, laughed at them or ran away. They didn't close themselves off from everyone and then, when _forced_ to interact with Jasdebi, they certainly didn't express concern for them. In any way, shape or form.

"I couldn't do that," Bel mumbled, then pointed to her ear. "I couldn't even get my ears pierced."

Debitto gave a snort of laughter. Jessabel turned her attention to the other twin, raising an eyebrow. The dark-haired boy sneered maliciously, leering down on her.

"Coward," he mocked.

The other eyebrow joined its already raised companion. Jessabel reached up and towards Debitto's face. Caught off guard despite what happened to Jasdero, Debitto jerked his head back.

"What the hell-"

He was cut off as Jessabel grabbed his ear. Her eyes broke contact with Debitto's briefly as she tugged at his ear. She let go, a small smile decorating her face.

"Hypocrite," she said, her eyes doing all the mocking.

A light pink streak tinted Debitto's normally colourless cheeks. Like Jessabel, his ears remained whole and he hated being caught. He _wasn't_ a coward though, **wasn't** afraid of getting it done, he just… didn't see the point. It was disfiguring yourself for God's sake, Debitto reasoned, besides it was a _human_ fashion, why should he conform to it?

"That's different!" Debitto protested.

"How?" came the cool reply.

"I'm not afraid to get it done," he argued. "I just… don't want to."

Jessabel rolled her eyes, obviously not believing him. Debitto scowled at her, getting off the couch and dragging a surprised Jessabel with him. He stormed out of the house, pulling Jessabel by the wrist, ignoring her silent struggles. Jasdero bounded after them a moment later, catching up with his brother without any trouble.

"Where are we going, Debi?" he asked innocently.

His brother turned to him, grinning wolfishly. His now greenish-gold twinkled maliciously like they did before a battle. Jasdero's heart soared because he knew whatever was going to happen, it was going to be fun.

"We're going to get our ears pierced," he answered simply.

"We?" squeaked a tiny voice.

* * *

An hour later, Jasdebi and Jessabel walked home. The three were an odd sight; a demented blonde giggling to himself, half skipping on the way back; a vexed red-head with a piece of silver newly threaded through each of her earlobes; and finally, a sour black-haired boy with one very swollen ear. All walking in a line, Jessabel was safely trapped in between the twins. Though, oddly, it never even occurred to her that she should try and escape.

"I hate you guys, I hope you know that," Jessabel muttered.

The comment only made Jasdero giggle louder and Debitto even managed to smirk before a wave of pain made its way through his left ear. She had said the same thing when she was sat in the chair, just as the man readied the special gun… right before grabbing Jasdero's hand. The thought made her cringe but she had been scared and his hand happened to be _right there_. Surely she couldn't be blamed for putting her hand down in the wrong place? Glancing at each other the twins she came to the conclusion she could. They hadn't stopped sniggering since the incident.

Jessabel's only comfort was the fact that Debitto's left ear resembled a red balloon. Instead of getting a pair of piercings, or even just a single one, he'd chosen to get seven done in one ear. Jessabel couldn't hold back a small smirk every time he swore when a new piercing went in. Nor could she resist reminding him that he'd said he'd get _seven_ piercings when he tried to back out at five. The murderous glare she had received only made her smirk more obvious.

"You realise we've done something illegal," she pointed out, the thought only just occurring to her.

"We have?" they asked in unison, blinking.

"You remember they asked if we were sixteen?" Jessabel asked, receiving two nods. "I lied, I'm only fifteen."

Jasdebi shrugged. They had thought she was sixteen, most people in their classes at school were, but it honestly didn't matter to them. Most humans never lived to be as old as them, why should they care if this one happened to be a bit younger than the rest?

"So what?" Debitto scoffed. "You got your ears pierced without your parents' permission. Big deal."

"Yeah, I guess," Jessabel replied, a small smile on her face which slowly disappeared. "Why are you guys even here?"

"What d'ya mean, hii?" Jasdero asked lightly.

"How come you guys came to my house after school?" Jessabel clarified.

"You didn't turn up at school," Jasdero replied, smiling broadly.

Jessabel blinked in confusion at him. The comment sent butterflies off in her stomach and she pushed her glasses further up her nose in order to hide the light dusting of pink across her cheeks. The thought that they might have been worried about her made Jessabel feel warm inside. It was an oddly nice feeling.

"Who was that guy?" Debitto asked suddenly.

For a few seconds Jessabel wondered who on earth they were talking about. There hadn't been any guys except for the ones who pierced their ears. Then Jessabel realised exactly who they meant.

"Oh, that was Gabriel," Jessabel replied lightly. "He's my brother."

"Doesn't look much like you," Debitto countered easily.

Jessabel raised an eyebrow, despite knowing the truth of it. She was a throw-back, getting her fire-red hair and bright blue eyes from somewhere long forgotten in her family tree. Gabriel, in contrast, was the spitting image of their father with almost black hair and onyx coloured eyes. There was a slight resemblance in facial structure between the two siblings but the difference in gender made it rather hard to see at first glance. It was much easier to identify Gabriel as Jessabel's sibling if one of their sisters were nearby, as a sort of mid-way point between the variations.

"He takes after my father," Jessabel replied, hoping to end the conversation there.

"He doesn't live with you?" Jasdero asked. "Hii."

"No, he lives in London with his wife and daughter," she answered.

The twins exchanged a disbelieving glance.

"He's twenty-six," she told them dryly. "He's allowed to have his own family."

"Big gap," Jasdero mused causing Jessabel to look to the blonde twin, confusion clearly written on her face.

"That's eleven years between you and him," Jasdero pointed out. "I just thought it was a big gap."

Jessabel chuckled quietly, "We have three sisters in between us."

Jasdero's mouth formed a perfect 'o' shape, crisscrossed with black string. However, confusion crossed his face and Jessabel could only wait for the inevitable question.

"Then how come you don't live with them?" Debitto asked instead, "Or your parents?"

Jessabel opened her mouth to protest but Debitto glared harshly at her which caused her to shut her mouth and turn away. There were a few moments of silence before the weight of Jasdero's arm was slung across her shoulder. She looked up to him, ready to order him to let go when she saw him beaming at her.

"Come on, hii, you can tell us," he coaxed. "We're your friends."

Jessabel's surprise at this revelation was evident on her face. She hadn't had friends in many years. That wasn't to say that she hadn't had them, they had just seemed to disappear slowly after her mother left her. She could barely remember what that had been like, only the pain they'd left behind them which had made her reluctant to make any more. However, if this was what it was like to have friends, then maybe it wasn't **so** bad to start making them again.

"Don't look so surprised, stupid," Debitto snapped. "I bet you've talked more to us than anyone at school."

Jessabel grudgingly admitted that was true. It was also probably true she talked more to them than the girls in the band… though not more than Gabriel.

"My siblings are all old enough to have lives of their own, so they've moved out," Jessabel explained.

"And your parents?" Jasdero asked.

Jessabel rolled her eyes. "Travelling," she told them, echoing Gabriel's answer to her own version of the question.

Jasdebi heard the slight bitter tone in Jessabel's voice but they decided to leave it. They weren't particularly interested and if that ever changed, they could always pester her later. The walked in silence for a few minutes, none of the odd trio saying anything then, suddenly, a thought occurred to Jasdero. Which is never a good thing.

"Now that we're friends, you can call us 'Jas' and 'Debi'," he offered brightly. "And we can call you 'Bel'…"

Jessabel nodded even though she was slightly sceptical. They had been calling her Bel since yesterday anyway.

"And we can be Jasdebibel," he concluded, a huge grin on his face.

"NO!" Jessabel and Debiito shouted in unison.

The two were surprised and turned to glare at each other. They started bickering, Debitto taking the offence by defending Jasdero while Jessabel argued that Debitto was just as adverse to the idea as she was. This then lead to an argument about Debitto's intelligence because he didn't know what 'adverse' meant. Meanwhile, Jasdero smiled as he watched them.

It was obvious by now – to Jasdero at least – that Bel wasn't an Exorcist. And although Jasdero didn't exactly understand why he enjoyed Bel's company, he was reluctant to give it up just yet. The fact that Debi and Bel were arguing didn't really bother him, to Jasdero it looked like the kind of fight they often had with Tyki. It was happened every so often, they found each other annoying but deep down they liked each other.

"OW!" Debitto exclaimed, clutching his shin.

Really, _really_ deep down.


	9. Brooding

**A/N: omg, how long has it been since I last updated? It must be something near two months now. I'm so sorry, I got really freaked out because of how ooc Jasdebi were getting and thinking I might need to rewrite the whole story. But I figured that there isn't much canon of everyone's favoutire psycho-twins so for all I know, they could still be in character. Never mind, enjoy.**

Thursday morning, Jasdebi walked into school feeling bored. They hadn't been causing much trouble compared to their normal amount and they were beginning to think that they were losing their touch. Tyki pointing out that the Earl hadn't had a phone call from their headmaster complaining about them yet – and they'd been there _**three**_ days already – probably didn't help the matter either.

They were brainstorming ways to get themselves in trouble (in Japanese of course, where was the fun if people knew what they were planning?) when they saw Bel. She was carrying a rather large amount of books and struggling. On top of that she was surrounded by a large group of girls. The majority of them were dressed in mini-skirts or some form of pink which immediately singled them out as air-head girls that Jasdebi like to annoy. They seemed to be talking to Bel, or rather, they seemed to be _attempting_ to talk to Bel. Who was remaining silent as usual.

"Come on, you must like one of them!" one of the girls exclaimed as Jasdebi drew closer.

Bel shook her head calmly, a flash of silver catching Jasdebi's attention despite her attempts to hide her new earrings with her hair.

"Like who?" Debitto growled out.

All of the girls jumped, including Bel who they'd managed to slide next to and surround. Once they were recovered, some of the girls started giggling and blushing while a few of them watched the trio with the predatory eyes of a gossip. Bel, on the other hand, remained silent and relatively emotionless, calmly awaiting the girls' departure.

"Is it true?" one of the girls blabbered out. "Are either of you dating Jessabel?"

Jasdebi's eyes light up as they realised what was going on. Bel, who was looking at the assembled girls, didn't notice the twins turn to each other and the look that passed between them. They grinned in their malicious, sadistic way before answering the question.

"Nope," they replied in unison.

Disappointment spread like a wave among the girls and Jessabel couldn't help smirking. However, her quiet glee died on her lips when Jasdero slung an arm around her shoulders and Debitto's arm snaked around her waist.

"She's dating both of us."

This having been said, the two bent down and each placed a kiss on her cheek. Jessabel's eyes went very wide and she trashed in their grip, managing to free herself quite easily. She turned to explain the real situation to the girls but found they were all ready gone, spreading their newest bit of gossip. What little colour there was in Jessabel's face drained away as the consequences of the event dawned on her. She had never before been concerned with the goings on at school, she had deliberately excluded herself and avoided all attention. A rumour that someone was dating one of the new guys would cause a bit of a stir, it could be dealt with quite easily. The news that _both_ boys, a pair of _twins_ were dating the most ambiguous girl at school would cause mayhem. And Jessabel would be right in the thick of it.

She turned to look at the twins. The pair were grinning like the madmen they were and laughing so hard they had to hold on to each other to stay standing. She felt her anger boil up and she pushed them, causing them to lose their balance and fall on the floor. Still they laughed.

"You idiots," Jessabel hissed at them.

Slowly, their laughter died down and they managed to stand back up.

"Relax, it was only a joke," Debitto sneered.

"A joke?" Jessabel asked incredulously. "A _joke!?_ Do you have _any_ idea what you've just done? What kind of a fuss your little stunt is going to attract?"

Jasdero and Debitto rolled their eyes. It wasn't that bad.

"No, don't roll your eyes at me!" she demanded. "I have worked all my life to prevent this sort of thing from happening. I made myself invisible so that people would leave me _**alone**_. Then you two turn up and start stalking me. Next thing I know, this has happened."

Jasdebi exchanged a glance, this was actually upsetting her. They didn't understand why what they'd done was so bad but obviously it was. Jessabel had never spoken at school before (they knew that from that guy pulled them away from her on their first day) so she must have been really mad. It had just been a joke, they hadn't meant to actually upset her. Annoy, of course. Embarrass, hopefully. But upset? …no, that just wasn't fun with Bel.

"Look, we're sorry, all right?" Debitto began. "It was just a-"

"No, it's not all right," Jessabel snapped at them. "This is why I don't make friends. They just end up getting you in trouble or hurt."

Jessabel stormed off, wiping a single tear from her eye. Jasdebi were left standing in the hallway, feeling guilty for the first time in a long while. Bel disappeared from sight and Debitto's gaze hardened. The bell sounded overhead and the pair began to walk away, in the opposite direction from their homeroom.

* * *

They say people need the time to cool off after an argument but Jessabel was given no time. As soon as she entered the homeroom, she was bombarded by the female half of the class. They badgered her with questions about what Jasdebi were like, how did she get around to dating _both_ of them at the same time and things like that. There were also more disturbing questions like; which was the best kisser and had either of them done 'it' with her yet. Some of the nastier girls suggested that she must have done, and with both of them, to get them to be her boyfriends. One even asked what it was like have a threesome.

She broke away from them eventually and was truly glad to see the teacher come to take attendance. Jessabel spent the whole day avoiding people but didn't fail to notice that Jasdebi were no longer in school. This also caused a stir and there were whisperings that Jessabel and the twins had broken up _already_. It made her want to scream at them that she had never been an item with Jasdebi in the first place. However, she had always been silent around her schoolmates and she found it a hard habit to break.

By the end of the day, Jessabel was truly ready to kill the pair of them… or cry. She hadn't quite decided by then.

She was tired but dragged herself home and got changed. There was one advantage to this fight, at least they wouldn't follow her to band practice that evening. She vaguely considered staying mad at them long enough to stop them from following her tomorrow as well. There was a gig and she didn't want them realising she was Marred yet…

Jessabel paused, half way through locking her front door, as she replayed that thought it her head. It didn't take much to realise that she hadn't actually meant what she said, nor was she truly mad at the pair anymore. The more Jessabel thought about it the more guilty she felt and it distracted her.

She shouldn't have shouted at them. They weren't to know how hard she'd worked to go unnoticed by her schoolmates. It had also been a joke, as they said, and although the thought of what they did still irked her, it wasn't that bad. After all, hadn't Jessabel decided, only the day before, that she was going to start making friends again? Maybe this was an opportunity to get noticed. Admittedly, it wasn't the way she would have chosen if given the choice but that wasn't important.

If Jessabel was truly honest with herself, what had bothered her the most had been the kisses. She could tolerate them hugging her though it was still a bit uncomfortable. However, kissing – even on the cheek – was something different altogether. She couldn't remember ever being kissed by her mother – the fact that she couldn't remember _much_ about her mother was irrelevant – and she certainly didn't get kissed on the cheek or forehead by any of her siblings. The thought of the pair of them kissing her on the cheek irritated her and made her feel unable to stand still. Yet, there was that same warm feeling in the pit of her stomach that she'd had when she squashed between the twins yesterday.

But still, she'd shouted at them. It wasn't their fault and struggling to think of what to do kept Jessabel's mind busy.

"…Marred…"

Marred was jogged out of her musings. She scanned the room to see that Ebony, Athame and Bane were already standing in place, prepared to start. Marred on the other hand was still seated on one of the chairs, staring at them blankly. She got up and took her place by the mic.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Suddenly, a hand was placed on her shoulder and Marred turned to see Bane behind her.

"Hey, are you all right?" she asked.

"Yeah, you've been kinda out of it ever since you arrived," Athame pitched in for her sister.

Marred started to nod automatically when she stopped. She changed the movement, shaking her head from side to side. At the motion, the other girls put aside their guitars and put down their drum sticks.

"What's up?" Ebony asked.

"I…" Marred started finding it hard to speak in the absence of Jasdebi. "I upset a friend of mine. I feel guilty."

Surprise flicked over all three of the girls' faces. They hadn't been aware that Marred had any friends other than themselves. It must have been some fight as well, it was very unlike Marred to be distracted. Normally, she was the most focused of the four, putting her heart and soul into the band.

"Why don't you just apologise?" Bane suggested.

Marred appeared to think about it. Concern and indecision mixing in her expression. Marred wasn't sure how badly she'd upset Jasdebi, or even if she had. She'd been without friends for so long that she couldn't even remember what was a big deal between friends anymore.

"Will… that be enough?" she asked weakly, fear in her eyes.

"Well, why not get them a gift?" Athame suggested. "Bane always forgives me when I give her some chocolate."

"I don't know what to get them," Marred confessed. "I don't think they like chocolate."

The girls exchanged looks.

"What kinda girl doesn't like chocolate?" Ebony muttered, echoing her friends' thoughts.

"It's not a girl," Marred corrected them quietly. "It's a guy… two of them."

They gawped, totally shocked by this revelation. They looked to each other, realising that they didn't know Marred very well at all. In amongst the silence, a sudden breakthrough sparked in Ebony's eyes.

"They wouldn't happen to be the psychos, would they?" she asked.

The two sisters started, staring at Ebony before looking towards Marred. They weren't sure what surprised them more; the fact that Ebony came to that conclusion or that Marred seemed to be agreeing to it – nodding meekly and refusing to meet anyone's eye.

"That was fast," Athame mumbled, receiving a whack on the arm from her sister.

"Well, we know that they like the band," Ebony said, trying to be helpful. "Why don't you bring them backstage tomorrow night? You can…"

Ebony trailed off at the look of mild horror on Marred's face. The girl shook her head rapidly, dismissing the idea absolutely.

"Do they even know you're Marred?" Athame asked in suspicion, receiving a shake of the head. "All right, then why don't you give them… oh! I know, that CD we've got recorded."

Marred thought about this carefully. Logically, she should have jumped at the chance. They'd recorded a CD of some of their better songs around a month ago but it hadn't been released to the public yet. They'd been planning to get a small amount of money from the CDs but due to Marred's reservations, they'd resolved not accept any contracts that came up from releasing the CD. They put a lot of work into it and Marred had even had her brother look into what they needed to go through to copyright the CD's contents. However, there was one small problem…

"How do I give it to them without telling them I'm in the band?" Marred asked.

The group descended into silence.

* * *

Three hours later, Marred had changed back into Jessabel and was lying in her room. She stared at the ceiling, occasionally glancing at the CD case lying beside her. The cover was fairly plain, black with a single, blood-red feather in the centre and the band's name in a curved scrawl at the corner. It seemed to taunt her, reminding her that although she now had a way to apologise to Jasdebi, she couldn't actually give it to them. Even by the end of practise, none of the band had come up with a plausible lie. However, despite their slight distraction, they managed to carry on with practise as normal.

Jessabel looked out of her tiny window, seeing the last of the sun's rays disappear from the sky. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say that someone tried to break her door down. Jessabel hurried downstairs, briefly checking a mirror to make sure she wasn't still wearing make-up or anything Marred-related. She unlocked the door and opened it, only to have something flung in her face.

The shock of the sudden action made Jessabel fall down and onto her rear rather painfully. When she recovered, she looked up to see Jasdebi standing in her doorway, looking awkward. Jessabel appraised them quickly. They weren't wearing the same clothes as that morning, instead they were wearing black jeans and a pair of hoodies that seemed to match. Actually, 'match' wasn't the right word; both hoodies were black with random pieces of cloth and logos sewn on but they weren't identical to each other. So instead of matching, they more or less complimented each other, rather like Jasdebi themselves. The twins refused to look at her and Jasdero was hiding behind Debitto.

"Um… hi?" Jessabel said timidly, as she got back up.

"I'm sorry," Jasdero said quietly.

Jessabel blinked. That was absolutely the last thing she'd expected them to say. Even if the twins were her friends, she still doubted they said sorry very often at all. Jessabel glanced at Debitto, he wasn't looking at her but did appear to be gritting his teeth together. His eyes flickered around, eventually landing on Jessabel and looked like he would explode from anger.

"Me too," he said grudgingly.

Jessabel mentally shrugged, guessing that would as close to an apology she would ever get from Debitto. Still, against all odds, the black haired twins continued.

"We figured you'd still be mad at us, so we got you that as… an apology gift-thingy."

Debitto pointed at the thing in Jessabel's arms, the item that they had thrown at her. She blinked at looked down, finding it to be a piece of clothing. She unwrapped it from the ball it had been twisted into and was shocked by what she saw. It was a hoodie that matched the ones that Jasdebi were wearing – but it the same way didn't really match it at all – and Jessabel mildly wondered what she'd done to make them think she would even want something like that.

That wasn't to say she didn't like it. It wasn't something she would wear as Jessabel, not even something that seemed to fit Marred, but she still liked it. It seemed to be more her than anything she normally wore.

"We're really sorry, Bel," Jasdero whimpered, a small sad 'hii' at the end. "Please forgive us, hii, we didn't mean to upset you."

Jessabel felt a mixture of guilt and gratitude well up in her. She slipped on the hoodie over her white shirt and zipped it up, finding it to be the perfect size.

"It's okay," she told them, pulling her hood over her head. "I'm sorry for snapping at you guys. I didn't mean what I said."

"So you still want to be our friend?" Jasdero asked, his golden-green eyes alight.

Jessabel nodded and suddenly found herself enveloped in one of Jasdero's hugs. She fought to urge to struggle and slowly wrapped one arm around Jasdero to return the hug. Suddenly, and it took Jessabel quite a while to figure out how he managed it, she was slung on Jasdero's shoulder while he ran around in random circles.

"Dero!" she wailed, her ears filled with Jasdebi's almost hysterical laughter.


	10. The Effects of Alcohol

**A/N; Sorry, A-levels suck so my updates haven't been exactly.... frequent. Thanks for the support though and everyone who's reading this. Hope you like it, I'll post the next chapter if/when I get five reviews! That's really low of me but there's at least ten of you out there who have me on stroy alert so that shouldn't be too much to ask right? Anyway, please enjoy, and just a few words in a review would really make my day!**

"No."

"But you said we were friends."

"We are."

"Then why not?" Jasdero asked.

Looking up briefly, Jessabel was met by a pair of greenish-gold eyes, wide as can be, set in Jasdero's most effective puppy-pout. Jessabel felt her conviction waver and tore her eyes away from the younger twin, staring at the book in front of her. She had given up reading ages ago, just like their poor substitute teacher had given up trying to control the class. At that moment, most people were talking to their friends, sitting wherever they liked, while the substitute stood at the front of the class looking rather deflated. Jasdero had taken the seat in front of Jessabel and Debitto had taken the one beside her, when they normally sat behind her in that class. It was impossible to concentrate on the book in front of her while the pair had been talking, even more so when the attack had commenced.

"I'm busy," Jessabel replied with difficulty.

"With what?" Debitto demanded, poking Jessabel in the side of the head.

"Don't do that," Jessabel snapped, taking a swipe at Debitto's hand. "I need to get Mark some stuff."

"Let him get it himself," Jasdero suggested.

"He's a kid, Jas," Jessabel reminded him. "He needs help."

"So? It'll take you an hour or two at the most," Debitto pitched in. "It won't have even started by then."

"Mark's staying at my house overnight," Jessabel amended. "I'm not going to leave him in my house alone to go some club."

"It's a gig," Debitto corrected her. "It'll be fun, if you actually know what the word means."

"No thanks," Jessabel insisted. "Maybe next time."

The twins glared at her but she focused on the book, desperately trying to ignore them and stay calm. It was Friday and Jessabel had a gig at the regular club. She had been expecting a few scenarios, like the pair would try to follow her around before the gig was due to start and she'd wander off when it was show time. However, the thought that Jasdebi would actually invite her to go to her own gig, especially so early on, never occurred to her. The suddenness was making her panic, trying not to get out of going without making them suspicious and giving away her reasons was difficult.

Still, Jessabel had her secret weapon: Mark. For some reason the pair hated the mention of the eight-year-old's name, let alone the prospect of hanging out with the boy. Admittedly, Mark didn't seem to like them anymore than Jasdebi liked him but Mark was a child so unexplained hostility was more normal.

"You promise?" Jasdero asked.

"No, I said maybe," Jessabel insisted. "It depends whether I'm free or not."

They continued to glare at Jessabel and she had to fight the urge to sink further into her seat.

"Next Friday," Debitto said.

"I'm bu-"

"You're coming whether you like it or not," Debitto said firmly.

Jessabel lifted her eyes from the book and met Debitto's. A staring match ensued and just as Jessabel felt she wouldn't have been able to hold it anymore, the bell rang overhead and they both broke contact at the same time. The class was the last of the day so the bell was followed by the shouts of Jessabel's classmates. Finally, the first week of the new year was over and the weekend began. People rushed out of the school, pushing and shoving to get out like their lives depended on it. Jessabel was bashed into the walls more than once but Jasdebi managed to elbow and kick their way through the crowd and get out relatively unharmed.

When the rush died down and Jessabel had set herself on the way home, she looked around to find herself alone. Jasdebi were no where to be seen and even when she reached her house, there was no sign of the psychopathic twins. She sighed a sigh of relief and greeted Mark, who stood on her doorstep, with a very faint smile. Her secret was safe for now.

* * *

The drums beat out the rhythm harshly and the crowd's shouts echoed in the ears of everyone gathered. The two guitars controlled the melody and the singer's voice weaved in and out as the song drew to a close. Someone had gotten hold of alcohol among the minors and some were drunk enough to climb up on the bar and the tables, singing an off-key version of the song. As the last cord was played, the crowd stomped its feet and demanded an encore but the band departed, leaving them disappointed.

Chugging back a swig of beer that they had brought with them, a pair of twins shouted loudest of all. Feeling pissed off, Jasdebi had decided to get pissed instead and had been drinking since school had been let out. Everything was a blur of colour, noise made their heads throb but they didn't quite make the link between the pain and its cause. They leaned on each other, unaware that their supply of alcohol had been entirely depleted, half through their own efforts and half from it being stolen by the others around them. The band disappeared and someone else came on, met by booing from the drunken audience.

"Fuck this," Debitto slurred. "Lez go."

He stumbled away, bumping into someone who swore at him before being floored by Debitto's fist. Jasdero laughed loudly, his already strange laughter transformed into a noise only uttered by the demented and depraved. The twins staggered in the direction of the exit and a fight erupted in their wake.

Meanwhile the band gathered behind the scenes, changing into their normal clothes conscious of the chaos that was blooming inside the club. The noise was apparent even in recesses of backstage and the girls regarded the club manager with wary eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, girls," he said, smiling weakly. "Someone handed out alcohol to the minors so we don't think of this as your fault. It won't put your regular spot at risk. Here's your pay for tonight."

Each of the girls took the offered money and exchanged relieved smiles.

"Psychos at the back," Ebony muttered when the managers had gone. "Looked like the worst of them."

"Yeah, seemed like all the drunks were at the back too," Athame pointed out. "You don't think they brought the stuff with them?"

All eyes turned to Marred and the red haired singer shrugged. She had honestly no idea if or why Jasdebi would have brought drinks to the club.

"Monday rehearsals as usual?" Bane asked. "Four?"

"Four thirty," Ebony corrected. "I have to pick up my kid brother from school and lock him in his room before you guys get to my place."

"Fair enough," Athame laughed feebly.

The girl's laughter was cut short as the previous act stumbled backstage, around fifty minutes before they were due to get off. They were wet with drinks that had been thrown at them and the lead guitarist's trousers had been ripped in places where they hadn't been before. The panicked look in the act's eyes spread to the band and they scattered quickly, hoping to get out of the club before the riot began to get dangerous.

* * *

Jasdero stumbled and fell to the ground once again. Debitto tugged on the back of Jasdero's hoodie but only managed to turn him over so that he was lying on his back.

"Hii, wheres Road?" Jasdero slurred in between the giggles. "I wanna sleeeeeeeep."

"Dunna," Debitto answered. "Stuuuuupid Road, stupid doors to stupiiiiiiid manshun."

A couple of seconds passed, the world silent apart from a cat rustling in a nearby alley way. Their heads still throbbed and they wanted to get home but Road was no where to be seen and she was their only way of getting back to the Earl's mansion.

"Hey, isn't tha Bel's housh?" Jasdero asked suddenly, rolling over onto his hands and knees. "Lez go slep there."

"Kay," Debitto agreed, unable to think of anything better.

They rushed across the road, barely missing a car that roared down the street and avoiding becoming road-kill. Eventually, they managed to get into Jessabel's house without setting off any alarms and stumbled up to the bedrooms. Everything was still a blur of colour but they managed to find Bel curled on her bed, her shoes cast to the side carelessly and still wearing her clothes. They looked at each other and shrugged before climbing onto the bed beside her, falling asleep almost immediately.

Debitto woke up feeling like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his skull while he wasn't looking. He vaguely remembered the events of the night before, including sneaking into Bel's house. He sat up groggily, having to remove his arms from the figure in front of him.

Jasdero still asleep, looking no worse for wear than when they started drinking. He was on the other side of the bed, arms wrapped around Bel's waist and her head leaning into the crook of his neck. Bel herself was also sleeping, curled up into a little ball, completely oblivious to her midnight visitors. She was still sleeping on top of the covers, wearing a pair of black jeans and the hoodie Jasdebi had given her. The hood was pulled up all of the way, hiding her face completely with the aid of Jasdero's form.

Debitto stared down at the pair of them, his headache subsiding just enough for him to concentrate on something other than the pain. He felt anger rise up though he wasn't sure why. For some reason, he didn't like the pair of them being that close, somehow it didn't seem right. Getting off the bed, he walked around to the other side almost tripping over a pair of black trainers in the process.

"Oi, Jas, wake up," Debitto demanded, shaking his twin brother.

"Five more minutes, hii, Debi," Jasdero mumbled, snuggling further into the nearest source of heat.

"Now, moron!" Debitto snapped yanking Jasdero off the bed.

"Ow, hii," was all Jasdero said.

He blinked up at the elder twin who stood towering upside-down over him. He got up off the floor as everything came back to him. Looking down onto the bed, Bel seemed completely undisturbed by the ruckus that was happening around her. She slept soundly but started to shiver slightly in the sudden cold.

"Hii, she looks kinda cute like that," Jasdero commented, leaning over the unsuspecting girl.

"Only 'cause you can't see her face," Debitto sneered.

A small noise emitted from the curled figure that was Bel and the twins froze as she started to get up. She sat up and the hood fell off but it was a few moments before Jessabel realised that she wasn't the only one in the room. She had woken up because she suddenly felt very cold but the last thing she'd been expecting was to find Jasdebi staring at her like she was a living gargoyle. They gawped at her openly, their mouths hanging wide open as they stared. Jessabel felt a surge of anger tinged with fear.

"How the hell did you get in here?" she snapped at them.

They didn't answer but look at each other almost as though she hadn't said anything.

"Well?" she demanded.

"Fucking hell," Debitto finally said, his voice quiet and filled with surprise. "You're Marred."


End file.
